Naturally Julia Gillard’s being an atheist has stirred a lot of discussion in Australia:

In the video below, a panel from an Australian TV talk-show respond to a question from the audience regarding Julia Gillard’s atheism. The question asked was:

“Might Julia Gillard’s status as an atheist mean that she can represent Australians more effectively and be a unifying figure for people of faith and those who don’t have faith?”

The answers are interesting:

How religious is Australia?

The 2006 census identified that 64% of Australians call themselves Christian: 26% identifying themselves as Roman Catholic and 19% as Anglican. Five percent of Australians identify themselves as followers of non-Christian religions, and 19% categorised as having "No Religion"; 12% declined to answer or did not give a response adequate for interpretation. As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is much lower than this; weekly attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, about 7.5% of the population. (For the full Wikipedia article: Religion in Australia – Demographics, go here.)

The Out Campaign

1 comment

Interesting! Way to go Julia, and guess what? I share her views on marriage, as well. Australia is lucky to have her as their Premier and a lady at that; wow! She’s one of a kind in a million politicians.